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by deebainwonderland



Series: The Child and his Mandalorian [11]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Yoda Acquisition, Action/Adventure, Angst, Families of Choice, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, ManDadlorian, Original Character(s), Parent-Child Relationship, Questions, answers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22319914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deebainwonderland/pseuds/deebainwonderland
Summary: 3 times the Mandlorian couldn’t answer a question about the Child,And one time he answered without hesitation.
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: The Child and his Mandalorian [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586041
Comments: 15
Kudos: 567





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**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I believe I unintentionally made a lot of my readers cry with the last story in this series... Whoops? There's more fluff in this one, I promise.

1\. _What's his name?_

“Such a darling little one. What’s his name?”

Din jerked to attention and turned toward the voice. A woman with a long weathered face and toothy grin looked back at him, one eyebrow cocked as she awaited his answer.

His gaze shot back down to the bundle in his arms. Only the top of the Child’s fuzzy head could be seen poking up from underneath the Mandalorian’s cloak. His wide eyes were trained on the women, the endless curiosity that was the continual bane of Din’s existence piqued. 

Turning back to the woman, Din opened his mouth to answer but no words poured out. A name had never seemed very important. The Child was a completely unique creature, and Din doubted there was any other being like him in the whole universe. How could he, a lowly bounty hunter, name such a creature? 

The Child was the embodiment of a gentle nature. The power that flowed through his veins made him a potential savior or destroyer. He saved the Mandalorian’s life and was the reason for his continued existence.

How could all of that be tied up in a simple name?

“ _Ad’ika_ ,” he told the woman softly, grateful that his helmet hid his rapidly reddening face. “I call him _Ad’ika_.” 

The lovely smile on the woman’s face grew. “What a fantastic name. I’m sure it suits him just right.” 

With a happy little wave, the woman turned and went on her way down the road. 

The Child clapped his little hands with glee, as he often did upon hearing the word the Mandalorian bestowed upon him. 

“Ahh-huh,” the baby cooed, burying deeper into his guardian’s cloak. 

“Hush now, _Ad’ika_ ,” Din told him gently, prodding the youngling further into his grasp and out of sight. It wouldn’t do for just anyone to see his charge. If he were discovered, many would want far more from the pair than simpley a name.

The Mandalorian quickened his steps, moving back toward the relative safety of their ship. 

Was it wrong that the Child only had a descriptor instead of a proper name? _Ad’ika_. Child. 

A small green hand darted out his robes, grasping at an insect buzzing about the pair. 

“Down, _Ad’ika_ ,” Din said, eyes glancing around in all directions for danger.

The hand retreated and Din was subjected to a mournful coo. 

He laughed and rubbed a hand over the baby’s head with the kind of gentleness he long thought himself incapable of. 

_Ad’ika. Child. My child._ It was the only thing about his ward the Mandalorian was absolutely sure about. 

For now, it was enough for a name. 

2\. _Has this ever happened before?_

Din was going to be driven into inescapable madness. His nails bit angrily into the palms of his hands as he observed the healer bending over his charge. He was half tempted to knock her over the head, grab his ward, and run. 

Only… the Child had never been sick like this before. The Child had never been sick before period. 

The Mandalorian knew he was taking a terrible risk by bringing the baby to an outside healer, but he simply didn’t know what else to do. 

Din hadn’t slept in nearly three days. Those days were spent curled around an infant whose skin burned to the touch and whose cough echoed throughout the ship over and over again. 

If the Child didn’t get better soon, Din might as well carve his own chest open and offer the infant his beating heart. 

It was going to break anyway. 

“This fever is quite worrying,” the header said, shining a little light into one of her patient’s oversized ears. 

The Child cringed away from her touch, reaching out a hand towards his guardian, eyes screaming betrayal. 

Din looked away and focused all his will into not punching a hole in the wall. 

The bright green of the baby’s cheeks had taken on a sickeningly yellow hue. His breath rasped in and out of a constricted throat. 

The healer opened the Child’s mouth and shined a light down. Whatever she found there didn’t seem to be a good sign.

She lifted her hand from the baby’s chin and slowly caressed the side of his face. It was a mark of how awful the Child must be feeling when he tilted his head into the unfamiliar touch, seeking any kind of reassurance. 

The healer pursed her lips and turned back to the Mandalorian. “Has this ever happened before?”

Din opened his mouth to snap a reply but no words came out. 

Taking a step closer, the healer’s deep concern poured into her words. “Has this ever happened before?” she demanded, one arm outstretched as though hoping to scoop the answer into her hands.

Din swallowed, his own spit burning its way down his throat. 

“I don't know.” 

3\. _Is his family close?_

“Uh, uh, uh!”

Din registered the high pitched keen a moment before there was a tug at the edge of his cloak. 

“Yes?” Din inquired, cocking one eyebrow down at the little green infant standing on his foot. 

The Child waved an enthusiastic hand across the square. Din looked up at watched as a small gaggle of children ran in a wide circle, their laughter echoing all the way back to the Mandalorian. 

He glanced back down at his charge. The Child’s eyes were shining with excitement and Din felt his heart ache at the sight. The Child never had the luxury of just being a youngling. He was almost never around other children, and Din knew that even with the Mandalorian at his side, the Child was often lonely. 

Din did one more check around the square, tensed for any kind of danger. Finding none, he teetered on the edge of the decision for a moment before finally signing in defeat.

“Go on.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before the Child was shuffling across toward the other kids as fast as his little legs could carry him. 

“Don’t worry, they’re all good kids.” 

The voice came for directly behind him and Din spun on the spot, hand already raised halfway to his gun. 

An older man looked back at him with knowing eyes. He gestured towards the playing children. “One of them is my grandson. I could tell you were a little apprehensive about letting your little one go play but they’re all nice kids. No need to worry.” 

Din relaxed slightly. “We usually aren’t around too many other children,” he said, gaze traveling back across the square.

The Child had reached the gang by now and they were all running in a circle around him, laughing with glee at finding a new adorable friend.

“Travel can be hard on kids,” the man agreed. He paused for a moment, watching the Child struggle to pick up the ball. “Is his family close?”

Din stiffened. “I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

The man laughed, lifting his hands in a placating way. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure you two are real as family gets. I just meant I haven’t seen his species before. Is he from somewhere close?”

_If only I knew._

“Doubtful,” the Mandalorian muttered before walking away from the man. He knew he was being rude, yes, but people ought to know they shouldn’t be asking so many questions. 

As Din made his way around the square, his eyes remained trained on his ward. 

The happy look on the Child’s face made the Mandalorian’s heart twist uncomfortably. 

_If only I knew._

+1. _Was he really worth it?_

Din crossed one armored arm across his chest just in time. The shot grazed down his forearm and ricocheted off to his left. 

“You’ve gone soft, Mando,” the voice above him snarled. “I can’t believe how far you’ve fallen. You know I actually used to look up to you?”

“Well, you’ve always had rotten taste,” Din replied, keeping his voice carefully uninterested. He landed a vicious kick to his attacker’s side and grinned underneath his helmet as he sent the other flying. “What have I told you about not leaving any openings, Syd?”

His opponent was a good ten years younger than him and the Mandalorian had known the man since the first day he joined the guild. 

He’d never liked him.

Syd Barrow was crass and a danger junkie. Din only worked one job with him before swearing to never make that mistake again. Some risks just weren’t worth taking. Still, the two had run in the same circles for years. 

It was absolutely no surprise that once Din became one with a bounty on his head, Syd was all too happy to come and collect. 

Syd leaped to his feet, his own grin nearly splitting his face. His upturned lips twisted his face into a maniacal expression. “You were the best, Mando. Then you throw it all away for some kid? Must have lost your damn mind.”

“Didn’t lose anything,” Din grunted, moving on the offensive. His first punch was blocked but the second made a satisfying crunching noise against the younger man’s side. “Gained everything.”

Syd swiped a low kick at Din’s legs and he went down hard, head rattling inside his helmet. Then Syd was on top of him, knife flashing in his hand. 

“You’re going to lose your life, Mando. Was he really worth it?” he asked, a cruel sneer twisting his lips. 

Din was an observer. From the shelter of his helmet, he observed the people around him with a degree of obsession. The Mandalorian was a blank slate to those around him. People never seemed to consider just how much he saw behind the confines of his armor. Therefore, he knew a few things about Syn Barrow. Namely, the man enjoyed their line of work a bit too much. He curled into the violence with relish and though it made him deadly, it also ensured his shortsightedness. 

Gotta look at the whole picture. How many times had Din told him that? No matter. 

With one giant effort, Din wretched one hand out from underneath himself, grabbed his discarded gun, and fired a single shot. 

Syd jerked back only to bark a laugh. “What the hell were you aiming at Mando? I’m right--”

The fallen tree branch thunked him clean on the head. Syd toppled off Din, a look of triumph still stained across his face. 

Din lay there for a long moment, breath coming in short, pained gasps. Not his most graceful performance. 

_You have a kid waiting for you back on the ship_ , he told himself firmly. _Get up._

The Mandalorian staggered to his feet, swaying gently. He spared one more moment to look down at his fallen opponent. A brief fire of rage bubbled up through his blood. 

Din aimed a vicious kick into the man’s side, sending the unconscious bounty hunter rolling. 

The Mandalorian bent down to whisper in the fallen bounty hunter ear. 

“He’s worth everything.”

**Author's Note:**

> This weirdly went from fluff, to angst, to… a brief action scene? Please leave a comment and/or kudo if you enjoyed!


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